Student Restrained At School Dies

July 12, 1989

DES PLAINES — A 12-year-old boy died Tuesday while being restrained by a staff member at a Catholic boarding school for troubled youths, police said.

Waketta Wallace, a student at Maryville Academy, 1150 N. River Rd., stopped breathing while being restrained, said Officer Jim Salas of the Des Plaines Police Department. He said the death is under investigation.

Rev. John Smyth, executive director of Maryville, said Wallace was being held by the arms by a staff member because the boy had threatened to hit other staffers.

``As he was being restrained by the arms, he just stopped breathing,``

Father Smyth said. ``The staff member who had been holding him gave him mouth- to-mouth resuscitation until the paramedics came. I was told later by police that there were no other marks on him.``

Wallace was pronounced dead at 7 p.m. in Holy Family Hospital in Des Plaines, a spokeswoman said.